Presently, various kinds of robots are used in a variety of fields such as real life, factory automation and the like, and the robots respectively have a unique control scenario according to a particular purpose of each field and operate according to the control scenario.
A robot in the field of factory automation has an operation control scenario for performing a repetitive motion so as to be appropriate to a repetitive work. However, a scenario for simply repeating an operation is inappropriate in the field of service robot such as an advertisement robot, an education robot, an entertainment robot or the like used in daily life or various locations, and a control scenario for diversely operating and responding a robot according to a corresponding location or service is required. In addition, when the location or the service using the robot is changed, the control scenario for operating the robot needs to be modified although the same robot is used.
Accordingly, a method of creating and modifying a robot control scenario is needed so that a general robot user, not a robot engineer, may recognize diverse and complicated situations without expertise by combining cognition information recognized through sensors (a ultrasonic sensor, a laser sensor, a camera, a microphone, a touch sensor, a motion sensor and the like) that a robot has according to a location and a service using the robot at a service site, and provide an expression appropriate to a cognition situation by combining operation and expression functions (a facial expression, a voice, a sound effect, an LED, an ignition, a gesture, a display and the like) that the robot has.
An authoring tool for creating contents, with which a general user may create a method of controlling operation of a robot at a level other than a code level, a robot contents authoring system which allows a plurality of users to individually create robot contents in a web environment and the like exist in the prior art.
Similarly mimicking a situation recognition method and an expression method of a human being so that a robot may recognize a situation in a way further similar to a human being and make a natural and vivid expression corresponding to the situation is very important to enhance the value of service robot products and satisfaction of users. In addition, if a control scenario can be modified based on the situation recognition method and the expression method of a human being in order to create and modify the control scenario according to the location and service of the robot by a general user using the robot at a service site, not a robot engineer ignorant of a situation of the service site and user's needs, the general user may create and modify the robot control scenario more easily and intuitively.
A human being recognizes a specific situation by using composite information obtained through sensing organs such as a sense of sight through eyes, a sense of touch through skin or the like, a sense of hearing through sounds and the like. For example, a human being recognizes a situation using composite recognition information of a plurality of sensing organs, such as “A child walks to me in front of me, and the child does not see straight ahead, but looks elsewhere”, and behaves or expresses according to the situation.
As an expression method, a human being makes a composite expression through a plurality of means, rather than a single motion or expression of a single means. For example, possibility of collision is determined according the situation recognized as described above, and in response thereto, a composite expression such as “Say watch out, and stops or moves to avoid the moving route of the child” is made through a plurality of means.
Accordingly, even in the case of a robot mimicking a human being, in order to make the robot to be similar to the situation recognition and expression method of the human being, a general user knowing a situation of a site and needs of a robot service, not a robot engineer, should be able to create and modify a robot control scenario based on the situation recognition and expression method of the human being.
However, since conventional techniques modify contents of a robot in a formalized and repetitive method of selecting a condition corresponding to input of a specific single sensor, such as simply touching the head or an arm of the robot by a user, there is a problem in that robot contents appropriate to a very complicated and diverse situation recognition method of a human being cannot be provided, and, furthermore, there is a problem in that rather than creating and reusing contents of a robot based on the expression method of a human being using a composite expression means, a user should select a motion of each single expression means and create an expression one by one whenever a scenario is created.
Other than these, the convention techniques have a problem in that in order to create a control scenario of a robot, motions or contents of the robot should be arranged on timelines corresponding to an amount of time for operating the robot.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1(a), the conventional techniques have a problem in that a user should select input conditions of sensors of a robot one by one and connect an expression method of a single expression means according thereto whenever a robot control scenario is created and repeat the works described above according to a location and a service method of the robot.
In addition, a robot control scenario method using input of single sensors as direct cognition means as shown in FIG. 1(a) is a recognition method and an expression method of a low level unlike the composite situation recognition method and expression method of a human being, and there is a problem in that it is inconvenient for a general user, not a robot engineer, to create and modify a robot control scenario, and even the robot engineer should design complex logic every time.
In addition, in the conventional techniques, a robot control scenario is configured of successive robot controls connected to a specific condition and behaviors corresponding thereto as shown in FIG. 1(b). Accordingly, when a scenario for controlling a robot for ten hours is created, a user should arrange a robot control element for each expression means 110 of the robot one by one on the timelines 120 corresponding to an amount of ten hours to create a control scenario of the robot, and thus there is a problem in that it is very difficult to create a scenario, and the robot may not operate appropriately to a variety of situations in a way similar to a human being.